The big thing I took from this speech is that web developers
on sharepoint should be putting a lot more work into the client object model.
Basically doing as much work on the client side as possible to minimize post
backs. He talked about how a lot of time has gone into making the client object
model better. He also recommends using javascript, jquery, and ajax among other
things. Bottom line is that Microsoft has invested a lot of time to make
sharepoint as client friendly as possible and developers should follow their
lead.

Here at windward we do Reporting with all of the Open XML
Office formats. I personally implemented a parser and output engine for the
PPTX file format. Since we work both in java and .NET we cant use the Open XML
SDK, since that only works with .NET. Therefore I have a good understanding of
all of the elements that make up an OOXML document. With this said, the new
stuff that the Office team has added into 2010 seems sort of like a cop out,
but given the situation I think they have done it in the best way possible. In
2007 there have always been <extLst> extension lists but they were never
used, until now in 2010. The other way 2010 is adding content is an
<alternateContent> block. The bottom line is that in either of those
elements there will be a 2010 version of the OOXML and a 2007< version. The
way it is expressed in the OOXML will vary but the basic idea is that if you
make a document in 2010 and open it in 2007, it will do its best to make it
look like the 2010 version, but any 2010 only formatting will likely not show
up 2007. Also if you open a 2010 (xlsx, docx) in 2007 if you make any change
anywhere and save it, all of the 2010 formatting will disappear. If you do that
same transition but in powerpoint, all the 2010 formatting will remain even if
you make changes to the file in 2007. The only way too loose 2010 formatting in
powerpoint is if you edit the actual element that contains the hidden 2010
formatting and then save it.One thing
the speaker demoed is the application of image effects to a static image. In
2010 it will render this effect on the fly, but it will also render a jpeg of
that image so if you go down to 2007 it will still look the same, but you wont
be able to change the effects on the fly. It seems like most of the new stuff
coming in 2010 has to do with drawingML, which is something that word and excel
hardly had in 2007, but powerpoint had a lot of. Chris said at the end of the
speech that he would try to find out when the 2010 documentation will be
available. Here is Chris Auld's Blog

This speech was interesting, the main thing I took from it
is that using REST you can link charts or tables from excel into other office
documents. Everything else was about specific implementations and tweaks to his initial demo.

Sharepoint 2010 has some great new UI features, mainly the
incorporation of the ribbon. In addition to the ribbon is the idea of keeping
the user ‘in context’. The idea is that if the user needs to enter in
information or change something then instead of getting redirected to a
different page, a modal dialog should be used instead. So even though the same
goal is accomplished, the context is preserved because the previous page that
user was on is still visible behind the modal dialog.The new ribbon and these modal dialogs can
all be customized. Another great thing about the new sharepoint 2010 is that
all of the menus are ajax, so that means no postbacks. It looks very slick.

I took a few things out of this session, a lot of it didn’t really
pertain to what I do with web parts. Can now fully debug sharepoint web parts
inside of Visual Studio, no more attaching to process’. Although he didn’t demo
it, VS2010 should also be able to show a visual representation of the webpart,
this will prove extremely useful for me.

Sharepint 2010 has Full browser
cross browser and platform compatibility, Including full mobile browser support.
Sharepoint 2010 will take office themes and apply them to an entire sharepoint
site. Sharepoint workspace lets you take Document Libraries and contact
libraries on the go in low or no bandwidth situations. Excel services can do
dashboards directly in sharepoint (charts and tables) live. Sharepoint 2010
really shines when it comes to content organization. The Content Query web
part, can pull everything that is related to research, show it to me ‘here’. Can
make a “rule” that any document that gets added to a document library with the
tag “spc” gets put in a different document library that only has documents with
the tag “spc”. Rules can be more complex than the above example. This reminds
me of Database Triggers, things that get called in standard RDBMS when tuples
are insterted into a table, but in Sharepoint the table is a list, and the
trigger is a rule. Sharepoint 2010 has vastly improved search for example
SP2010 now has wildcard search, and phonetic search. The search was very FAST,
and it hits everything including documents. Access for sharepoint 2010 has some
improvements as well. Access Services publishes a DB (Access) to the web, which
can be edited. Reporting and charts are built into access. Business
Connectivity Services now integrates with Visual Studio 2010. There is now the
ability to pull read/write functionality into a 3rd party DB as an
“external list” looks like sharepoint, but it’s a virtual list that goes back
to the line of business application. This is just the tip of the iceberg for
what sharepoint 2010 has to offer. Im especially excited for the content organization.